Explosions Hit Borussia Dortmund’s Bus in Germany, Wounding a Player

BERLIN — As many as three explosions damaged the bus of one of Germany’s most storied soccer teams as it headed to its stadium in Dortmund on Tuesday, wounding one player and forcing postponement of the match, an important playoff in a major European championship.

The Dortmund police chief, Gregor Lange, said at a late-night news conference that “we assume it was a targeted attack” on the Borussia Dortmund team. The wounded player, Marc Bartra of Spain, was undergoing surgery on his right wrist, a spokesman for the team said.

Hans-Joachim Watzke, Borussia Dortmund’s chief executive, said “three explosive devices” had detonated near a hotel outside Dortmund where the players were staying.

The state prosecutor told reporters that a letter claiming responsibility had been discovered near the site of the blasts, but that it was too soon to say if it was genuine. The prosecutor, Sandra Lücke, declined to answer further questions about the letter’s contents, including what language it was written in.

The authorities also would not describe the three explosive devices. Mr. Lange said that a fourth “suspicious object” had also been found at the scene, but that it had not been set to go off. Photographs of the bus showed that the rear window had been shattered.

In an interview with Blick, a Swiss newspaper, the goalkeeper Roman Bürki described the moments after what he said was a “huge bang” as the bus turned onto the main road to go to the stadium.

“I was sitting in the very back row next to Marc Bartra, who was hit by fragments of the broken rear window,” said Mr. Bürki, who is Swiss. All the players then ducked and lay on the bus floor, he said, because “we didn’t know if something more would happen.”

On Twitter, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain wished a “speedy recovery” for Mr. Bartra, 26, who played for seven seasons with Barcelona.

The match, against Monaco, will be played on Wednesday night, the first leg of a quarterfinal in the UEFA Champions League.

In a Twitter post, the Dortmund police told fans: “We are preparing for a big deployment and will take care of security” at the match on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday at the Westfalenstadion, the stadium where the match was to be played, hundreds of Monaco fans, hearing the news, chanted “Dortmund! Dortmund!” in a show of solidarity. In what has become another signal of support when terrorist assaults disrupt people’s plans, Dortmund fans quickly adopted a hashtag offering Monaco fans places to stay.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, condemned the attack on Twitter. “A despicable, cowardly deed, whoever did it,” he wrote. He thanked the police, fans and players for staying calm and doing their duty.

Borussia Dortmund is one of Germany’s most successful teams, dating to the late 19th century when soccer first came to Germany from England.

BERLIN — As many as three explosions damaged the bus of one of Germany’s most storied soccer teams as it headed to its stadium in Dortmund on Tuesday, wounding one player and forcing postponement of the match, an important playoff in a major European championship.

The Dortmund police chief, Gregor Lange, said at a late-night news conference that “we assume it was a targeted attack” on the Borussia Dortmund team. The wounded player, Marc Bartra of Spain, was undergoing surgery on his right wrist, a spokesman for the team said.

Hans-Joachim Watzke, Borussia Dortmund’s chief executive, said “three explosive devices” had detonated near a hotel outside Dortmund where the players were staying.

The state prosecutor told reporters that a letter claiming responsibility had been discovered near the site of the blasts, but that it was too soon to say if it was genuine. The prosecutor, Sandra Lücke, declined to answer further questions about the letter’s contents, including what language it was written in.

The authorities also would not describe the three explosive devices. Mr. Lange said that a fourth “suspicious object” had also been found at the scene, but that it had not been set to go off. Photographs of the bus showed that the rear window had been shattered.

In an interview with Blick, a Swiss newspaper, the goalkeeper Roman Bürki described the moments after what he said was a “huge bang” as the bus turned onto the main road to go to the stadium.

“I was sitting in the very back row next to Marc Bartra, who was hit by fragments of the broken rear window,” said Mr. Bürki, who is Swiss. All the players then ducked and lay on the bus floor, he said, because “we didn’t know if something more would happen.”

On Twitter, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain wished a “speedy recovery” for Mr. Bartra, 26, who played for seven seasons with Barcelona.

The match, against Monaco, will be played on Wednesday night, the first leg of a quarterfinal in the UEFA Champions League.

In a Twitter post, the Dortmund police told fans: “We are preparing for a big deployment and will take care of security” at the match on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday at the Westfalenstadion, the stadium where the match was to be played, hundreds of Monaco fans, hearing the news, chanted “Dortmund! Dortmund!” in a show of solidarity. In what has become another signal of support when terrorist assaults disrupt people’s plans, Dortmund fans quickly adopted a hashtag offering Monaco fans places to stay.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, condemned the attack on Twitter. “A despicable, cowardly deed, whoever did it,” he wrote. He thanked the police, fans and players for staying calm and doing their duty.

Borussia Dortmund is one of Germany’s most successful teams, dating to the late 19th century when soccer first came to Germany from England.

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